KÖTŐDÉSEK. A VIDÉKI MAGYARORSZÁG EMLÉKEZETE (Kiállítási katalógusok - Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2003)

the folk art tradition to high art is present in the artistic heritage of Szentendre, in the works of the generations after Lajos Vajda as a hidden but determining factor. Let us name Endre Bálint, Jenő Barcsay, Margit Anna, László Balogh, Pál Deim, and István ef Zámbó and their generation. It is not easy to describe the notion of art in Szentendre. It took several turns after its first manifestation in the 1920s and wrote several historic chapters: as main turning points or periods in the artistic life of the town, which had such an important influence on the Hungarian art in the 20th century, following events can be mentioned: foundation of the artists' colony and the period of the foundation of the Society of the Painters of Szentendre, the presence and epoch-marking activities of Lajos Vajda and Dezső Korniss in the thirties, the reconstruction of the old artists' colony at the end of the sixties and the opening of a new artists' colony, further, the appearance of the young artists of the later Studio Lajos Vajda. The art of Szentendre is born from the united contribution of societies, associations, artists' colonies, longer or shorter living organisations and lonely working masters. It includes the work of artists born in the town or settled down here, staying here permanently or for a while, taking active part in the art life of the town or preferring to live in solitude. (The overview showing the products of the fifty artists presented by the Hungarian Open Air Museum cannot be considered as complete: only the most active artists are represented.) During the first decades of the history of modern art connected to Szentendre, the sight, the view of the town, the typical motives of the town - the scenery, the nature and the built environment - had an overwhelming importance. The world of typical objects and phenomenon was mirrored in the works, which effort gradually faded in the course of the decades and the artistic interpretation took more and more distance from the concrete references and indications. Those contents, which refer directly to Szentendre or the spirit of Szentendre can be found today only in the deepest spiritual layers of the works of art. We have to state that we look in vain for a considerable turning point or for a characteristic attribute to take shape in the art of Szentendre after the political change of 1989/90: we meet uncountable circles of styles, attitudes, strivings, spiritual-artistic demeanours. Numerous groupings, organisations, artistic institutions function in the town and in the neighbourhood, and in this real whirl we move off more and more from the hope to ever be able to define exactly what is exactly the art of Szentendre. As a timid experiment at the level of generalities - and also as a result of our studies of the works of the Attachment-Collection brought together by the Hungarian Open Air Museum - we can state that the complex notion referring to the art of Szentendre means traditional artistic creation in conformity with the practice of free creation in the last third of the 20th century, in which universality and locality find their balance, tradition and engagement for renewal are simultaneously present, and spiritual, speculative motivations as well as sensual expressions stimulate the intentions of the artists in an outbalanced way. We can attach to this hardly exact surmise the words of art historian Judit Mazányi, written in the catalogue of the exhibition Hungarian art in the 20th century - seen from Szentendre

: "The most important value of Szentendre manifests itself in the comprehensive image taking shape from the works: the atmosphere helps preserving the integrity of the artist's personality and supports the artistic freedom." When following historic events and intellectual processes, we must not forget about some characteristically typical facts in our days, which modify the art connected to the town as well as the comprehensive image of earlier periods. First of all we have to remember that the art of Szentendre in the last third of the 20th century is no more painting only. It includes the graphic arts - and besides the individual graphic art of earlier times also the multiplied graphic arts -, sculpture and the applied arts: ceramic, textile art and forging too. We have to highlight from these arts the workshop of graphic arts working from the beginning of the eighties, which enriched the museum's collection (and the private collections) with a huge sérigraphie collection and added beautiful series to individual oeuvres. An other important fact is the increasing activities of sculptors from the seventies on. Oeuvres of outstanding importance in the history of Hungarian sculpture of the latest period are linked to Szentendre, including monumental sculpture and small sculpture. The same applies to the medal art. The time of the Szentendre period of applied artists of Szentendre coincided with the time when the dividing lines between artistic forms grew indistinct, the functions felt into the background, autonomity and spirituality gained importance and new materials and techniques replaced traditional materials or new and old materials were combined. The Attachment-Collection mirrors today's state of this 'artistic structure': painting remained dominant but above mentioned modifications and enlargements can be traced well. In addition, we can observe the accented presence of an artistic form, so far rather neglected in Szentendre: the artists of photography represent an important group in the collection. Traditional paintings, graphics, sculptures, products of the applied art, photographs - all compositions maintaining the traditional artistic forms, fitting into the framework of artistic forms and categories - arrived to be exhibited in the new gallery of the Hungarian Open Air Museum: as if we were witnessing a movement towards classical values. An interesting phenomenon in the world of arts in Szentendre, where rather the breaking with the conventional style, the intention of questioning traditional values and the spirit of renewal prevail. Objects, installations, space arrangements, video compositions and other works refusing conventions, self-determining products are not included in the exhibition - and probably no performance of action 15